


Blood On Marble Tiled Floors

by KatyaMorrigan



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Bandaging wounds, Caring, F/M, Physical hurt/comfort, The Bathroom Scene but reversed, but kaz and inej are too in love to pay much attention, hand kiss, wylan is mildly awkward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:13:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27713918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatyaMorrigan/pseuds/KatyaMorrigan
Summary: The Bathroom Scene, but reversed.Kaz has rather predictably taken another beating in a street fight, and has made it back to the Van Eck mansion to sort himself out. Inej finds him dripping blood all over the bathroom, and offers to help him clean up.
Relationships: Kaz Brekker/Inej Ghafa
Comments: 20
Kudos: 163





	Blood On Marble Tiled Floors

**Author's Note:**

> Day 25 of my NaNoWriMo writing challenge this year (and I'm finally back on track again woo!) - one oneshot a day, every day for the whole of November. I'm following the SOFTober 2020 prompts by @wafflesandkruge on Instagram to give me some fluffy starting points for the coming month of fics.  
> The prompt for today was "care".  
> I hope you enjoy!

“Well,” Inej smiled from the doorway. “We’re here again.”

She looked at Kaz as he limped over to the sink in the Van Eck mansion bathroom, blood dripping from his face. He was covered in the filth of a brawl, all red and brown.

“You don’t need to help me.”

“Jesper told me you’d come up here. I’m not going to leave.”

Kaz turned to face her. He looked a mess; there was a heavy gash across his eyebrow that flowed blood, spilling into his mouth. He spat into the sink and winced.

“What happened?”

“The recon went south.”

“I mean where are you hurt?”

She walked in and perched on the edge of the bathtub. Wylan’s house was so beautiful and here they were, being the Dregs all over the cream towels. It was unbelievable that one of them ended up owning a mercher mansion, and frankly she was amazed at how well it had maintained its glorious ivory and marble look considering the nature of the people who resided within it. Kaz raised his hand to his face as he peered in the gold-edged mirror.

“Face wounds always bleed more than they should,” he said. “And I have a similar knife cut on my ribs.”

Inej hissed sympathetically. He looked at her again, his left eye marred with red.

“I said I don’t need you to help me.” She kept looking at him, and Kaz was the first one to turn back to the mirror and press at the flesh around the cut. There was a degree of satisfaction in making him turn away first.

“I know you don’t need me to.”

“Why are you still here then?” His tone was not harsh, but Inej knew that it was hard for him to keep it that way.

“Because I want to help you. And you’ll let me.”

Her voice was insistent but calm, and she knew that Kaz would accept her help eventually. It was always the way – both of them attempting to pull themselves together, and both of them pushing back every so often as well. There lay the biggest struggle in building something between two people who had unsteady foundations; there were always cracks that needed filling. But it was work they were both willing to do, however hard it was. She went to the door and closed it without locking it, then joined Kaz at the sink. Rinsing the sink of the blood and spit, she then filled it with warm water.

“I need you to take your shirt off,” she said, trying not to look overly invested or overly uninvested. Inej found it difficult to strike the balance between showing that this wasn’t a big deal, and wanting to assure him that she cared. Plus, seeing Kaz shirtless was good in any context other than this one.

All she got was a quirked eyebrow, followed by another grimace of pain.

“Don’t try to be sarcastic with me while you’re injured.”

“I’m perpetually injured, Inej.”

“Then how about you just cut the sarcasm out?”

She smiled gently, helping Kaz to slowly unbutton and ease the shirt over his shoulders. The top of his pale chest came into view, already beginning to bruise under his collarbone. Kaz tried to lift his arms from the sleeves, but every movement made him wince more as the blood flow increased from the side wound.

“I might need to cut you out of it,” Inej said. “How much do you like that shirt?”

“I liked it better before it was covered in blood.”

She rolled her eyes and pulled out Sankt Petyr, cutting a long line through the seams of the shirt, separating the front panel that covered his side from the sleeve and collar. Inej’s work was quick and precise, and she was pleased that all the damage done could easily be fixed by a tailor. She put the ruined piece of shirt into the tub so that it couldn’t stain any more of the bathroom. Kaz leaned against the wall, inhaling shallowly as the cut continued to weep blood. It was deep, but not worryingly so.

“I won’t touch you, I promise,” she said, taking the darkest towel she could find and dipping it into the water. “But the wounds need cleaning.”

Kaz nodded and closed his eyes as Inej approached him. His brow was unfurrowed, but she could see the tension in his mouth as she lifted the towel, casting a shadow onto his face.

“Um, Kaz?” she said quietly. He opened his eyes. “Can you sit down?”

“Is it that bad?”

“No, it’s just… I’m too short to reach properly.”

She gave an embarrassed grin, and Kaz exhaled through his nose. He limped over to the laundry bin, tested the lid for sturdiness, and sat down on top of it.

“Can the doctor reach now?” he asked, smirking.

“The doctor will need to administer anaesthetic if the patient is going to be like that.”

“I could use a long nap.”

Inej stepped between his legs, her own pressed against the wicker basket. She covered both of her hands with the damp towel, using it to cup Kaz’s face with one hand and dab at the crust of blood and dirt around the wound. He flinched at her touch, and his breathing got more uneven. Inej pulled away.

“Wear my gloves,” he whispered. “I can’t… Not wet hands.”

“Oh, of course,” Inej said hurriedly. “I’m so sorry, I—”

“You got the right idea,” he said.

Kaz took off his gloves and passed them to her. They were a little big, but as she had noticed on the previous occasion she had worn them while scaling an incinerator, the craftsmanship meant that she still felt very mobile with them on. Inej flexed her fingers a few times before picking up the towel again.

“Will this be okay?” she asked.

“Do it quickly, and dry it off afterwards.”

Kaz closed his eyes again and inhaled deeply, grimacing as his ribs expanded against the wound. Wringing out the cloth a little more, Inej carefully held Kaz’s jaw to keep him still as she cleaned him up, leaving his skin looking pink and enflamed but no longer covered in a slick track of blood. When all of the mess had been cleared away, the cut actually wasn’t so bad. It was shallow and long, splitting his eyebrow and reaching dangerously near his left eye, but fortunately doing no real damage.

“You’re going to have a lovely new scar to add to your image,” she commented, grabbing a dry towel and going over his face again.

“Just what I need.”

His face was still throughout this, and Inej quietly marvelled at his tolerance of the damp touch of the cloth over his face. It hadn’t been long ago that he couldn’t have possibly endured this, and would have suffered this clean-up alone and in more pain. Maybe she was giving too much emotion to the aftermath of the fight. Kaz had been in plenty during his years as a criminal, and she doubted he paid much attention to them beyond the more irksome injuries like this one. But she liked to think that he appreciated this, that he appreciated her giving him this little bit of care when he especially needed it. Perhaps she didn’t know him as well as she had thought she did.

She washed out the cloth in the sink, turning the water rusty and full of the muddy particles that had embedded themselves along Kaz’s face. Squeezing it out again, Inej positioned herself between Kaz’s legs again. He inhaled slowly and blew out a warm breath, stirring the hair around her face.

“Is it painful?” she asked. Kaz gave a single mirthless chuckle.

“No worse than any other wound,” he replied. “It’s the water and someone else that are troubling.”

“Oh,” she said. She really had read him wrongly – and she was making things worse. “I can go, you can do this yourself instead. I thought it would be—”

“Stay.” Kaz’s response came out instantly, like it hurt him to say. They looked at each other, awkward for his interruption, and Inej held his gaze.

“You’re sure?”

“I need…” He sighed. “This helps. This helps with the actual physical injury, and the…” Kaz reached up gingerly and tapped the side of his head. “Anyone else and I would have locked the door.”

Inej looked at him. That was vulnerable, for Kaz. An admission of weakness, of inferiority as he perceived it. This was the true sign that he wanted her here – he was trying to open up to her. And it made Inej give him a gentle smile as she adjusted the towel in her grip and looked down at his body.

It was hard not to immediately focus on his muscles. He was lean, with no impressive abdominals or shapely ridges, but with quiet strength under his skin. It showed in the way he sat and stood, and the way he bled more heavily than you would expect from the Bastard of the Barrel. Inej looked at the firmness below the soft rolling of his skin as he sat there in front of her, and placed her gloved hand just above his navel. She could feel it, that solidity of his body. He was so present, and yet still his face looked like he wanted to slip away.

Inej turned her attention to the wound, and cleaned around it as quickly as she could, keeping her leather-clad hand placed firmly on his stomach. She was warm, with a material touch. He could focus on that rather than the tepid dampness of the cloth. It was a large gash, and she knew it would need binding properly for some time to heal neatly. Inej put down the wet cloth and grabbed the dry towel, trying to avoid the raw edges of the cut with it. All this time and she hadn’t looked up. With the final swab she looked at Kaz, and saw he hadn’t closed his eyes this time, or that he had opened them sooner. He was watching her face, seeing her as she focused solely on caring for him, and when their eyes met he didn’t look away.

Inej hadn’t been scared of Kaz in a long time, but the way he looked at her now sent a thrill down her spine that felt a lot like fear. She supposed it was a narrow line to tread: awe could turn terror as easily as it could inspiration. The feelings he pulled from her with no real intent, the way she had come to love him, flimsy a word as it was, they were all something that definitely scared her. But there was a safety in their dual fragility. He could break her as easily as she could break him. It didn’t always feel that way, when she was a tiny slim Suli girl and he a cold muscular Barrel boss, but when she had seen him inhale and close his eyes before she cleaned his wounds, Inej really understood how precious his trust for her was. He needed her to be kind to him as much as she needed it from him, perhaps even more so. Kaz wasn’t a person that could be loved by anyone. He wanted her affection to make him change. And although she wasn’t willing to be the girl to fix the monster, Inej was quietly delighted to see him change under her carefully distanced affection.

He was looking at her with that same fearful admiration, and when he reached for her hand, Inej looked down to follow the movement rather than have to face those eyes again. Kaz took her hand with a delicacy she was unused to, and when he lifted that hand to his lips, kissing the leather-clad knuckles of her fingers so softly, Inej nearly made a weak little noise in her throat. Kaz’s hands were soft and white from their years of covering, with that fascinating knot of scars and veins crossing over the backs, and they looked bizarre holding her tiny hands in their oversized gloves. But she looked at him, and he looked at her. Kaz brought his other arm around her waist, pulling her closer, and she leaned in instinctively. They were almost breast to breast, cheek to cheek, and she could actually feel the warmth of his face so close to hers. Inej was certain her cheeks were flushed.

“Inej,” he murmured, his fingers curling around her waist. With her heart in her mouth, Inej saw his gaze go from her eyes to her lips. He wasn’t really thinking about it, was he? Was Kaz actually considering something so huge, for both of them?

So caught up in the minute details of Kaz’s gaze, it took everything in Inej not to flinch violently as the door suddenly opened and Wylan stepped in.

“I got bandages and – oh!”

He flushed bright red as his eyes caught Kaz’s bare chest, and he seemed too horrified to look at either of them.

“Sorry! I’ll let you…”

Wylan threw down the gauze and slammed the door over the end of his own apology. Inej heard his feet rapidly disappear down the corridor. Slowly she looked back at Kaz, who was smirking quietly. She met his eye, and they both dissolved into laughter, Kaz leaning his head on her shoulder as he shook with chuckles. Inej held the back of his head and they embraced in that strange position, laughing at the perpetual awkwardness of their friend.

When he finally stopped laughing Kaz leaned back, looking at Inej. Her hand was still cupping the back of his head, and he leaned against her wrist.

“Well,” he said, “we can now bandage the wound.”

Inej let go of him and picked up the roll of material from where Wylan had flung it, pulling out the loose end and looking at the cut on Kaz’s side. It was long and awkward, and wouldn’t be easy to dress. She pulled out her knife again and cut as many strips the length of the wound as she could, holding them together in a bundle that partially overlapped.

“Can you hold this in place for me?” she asked, showing Kaz where to put his fingers. He did so, and Inej wrapped more gauze around his torso in long loops, holding the bundle in place as she tightened it.

“Will this be okay?” Inej shifted the bandages a little. “Will you be able to move?”

“It will be enough.”

Inej cut off the end of the roll and tucked it into the whole affair. Kaz’s torso now looked partially mummified, but the blood was staunched by the covering and he was able to move without too much pain. Inej was satisfied. He stood up gingerly and crossed the room to where his cane was still propped beside the door, using it to approach Inej again.

“Thank you,” he said, with none of the false carelessness of usual.

“It was no trouble,” she said, and she meant it. Getting to see him that little bit more vulnerable was invaluable to her, and especially when it meant she could actually do something for the man who worked only in favours and debts. Kaz smiled, and took another step closer. He raised a bare hand to her face, and gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Inej was completely focused on the movement, on the heat of his hand as it moved beside her cheek, and on the reverent look he was giving her.

“May I have my gloves back?” he asked.

“Oh! Of course.”

Inej unfastened the neat wrist buttons and passed the gloves back to Kaz. He balanced his cane as he put them on again, flexing his fingers in the same way she had. Kaz looked up from his hands to Inej, and turned his head just a tiny increment as he studied her face. Inej fought the urge to blush or move away. Then, very slowly, Kaz lifted his gloved hand and touched her face, his fingers under her jaw and his thumb on her cheek, admiring her in the most intimate way he ever had. Inej closed her eyes, too overwhelmed by the love in his eyes to keep looking at him. It was so much, to be held like this by a man. So much, and yet her chest was aching to pull him even closer, to one day press her lips to his.

That was too much for today though, and they both knew it. Inej looked up through her lashes, slowly taking in his gaze, and inhaling gradually as he stroked her cheek with that soft thumb.

“Thank you,” Kaz said again, but it was breathless and full of everything.

“My pleasure,” Inej whispered, moving her hand to rest on top of his. Kaz squeezed gently, and Inej smiled.

“I suppose I had better fix my appearance,” Kaz sighed.

“I don’t know about that. Wylan seemed more than okay with it.”

Kaz snorted.

“Have you considered that I am not interested in appealing to Wylan and Jesper’s gaze?”

“Very much.”

“Then I shall go and find a shirt.”

Kaz walked out of the bathroom, limping just a little bit more than usual, and Inej exhaled heavily. Her face was burning, but the ache of the smile around her mouth made sure that she didn’t mind, not at all. 

**Author's Note:**

> Loved writing this. I could feel myself being influenced by other fics I've read which do similar things to this, so I hope this isn't too repetitive or an embarrassing copy of a superior work because I really enjoyed writing this scene. We all need some vulnerable Kaz in our lives, and even more when he's actually able to treat Inej the way she deserves. Our king and queen.
> 
> Tomorrow's prompt is "dreams", and will be another Kaz/Inej fic.


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